A Time to Be
by 0 Nightwing Forever 0
Summary: At first glance, Dick Grayson is just your average schoolboy. But deep down, he's so much more. A hero. And in more ways than one. Unfortunately, his enemies know this even before he knows it himself. When he is captured, will his friends be able to save him? Or will he succumb to the darkness that threatens to take him, darkness that he knows has been within him all along? HAITUS!


**Hey! This is my FIRST EVER fanfic, so go easy on me. If you do find any mistakes, please don't hesitate to tell me! I love an excuse to make my fanfics better! R&R!**

**Disclaimer - No, sadly, i do not own Young Justice, DC Comics, or *tear* Robin/Dick Grayson. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go cry in a corner now. *sob***

**Enjoy!**

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**l GOTHAM HIGH**

l DECEMBER 26, 11:45 P.M.

There's a time to laugh. A time to cry. A time to love, and a time to hate. A time to wake. A time to sleep. And then, there's a time you wish someone would just shoot you in the face and end the torture. That's the feeling fourteen year-old Richard Grayson had in mind. An hour had gone by, and his Calculus teacher, Mrs. Hudson, still had yet to finish her lecture on who-knows-what. Dick knew all of it, anyway.

There are barely any perks to being bumped up three grades because of your brains. You don't have any friends your age. You get bullied by the bullies that are twice your size, and, being the supposed son of the Playboy millionaire Bruce Wayne, there was nothing he could do about it. Now, if he had been Robin, that would have been a totally different story.

Dick struggled to keep his eyes open. It'd been a rough night. Should have been a no-brainer; a simple robbery in the jewelry store downtown. But when Dick's teammate, Artemis, had been clipped by a bullet, he'd gotten distracted. Artemis was fine, of course, but Robin had gotten several bruised ribs and a black eye because of it. It was so bad the next morning that Dick had had to "borrow" some of Babs' makeup to cover it. Of course.

Basically, last night had been a disaster, heavy on the _dis._

But to ease the pain of it all, Dick let his mind drift to Artemis. She was so beautiful, he could hardly stand it. He wished he had the guts to tell her that, but he's just not that kind of guy. He'd been livid when she had fallen the night before. Before anyone else could have reacted, he had roundhouse kicked the bastard against the back wall. Rushing to her aid, he had lightly brushed a gloved finger over her side, where he could see a deep wound from where the bullet had skimmed past. On the bright side, it was only the force of the bullet that had knocked her to the ground. He would have helped her with it, but he had been momentarily distracted when a fist slammed into his face. And then his ribcage. Luckily, the team had snapped out of their stupor and rushed to aid them. It was only later did he-

"_Mr._ _Grayson_."

Dick snapped his head up, wearily focussing on the sound of his name. He inwardly winced when the wrinkled face of his teacher came into view. Ignoring the many snickers that he could hear around him from his "peers", he tried to sit up straighter. "Ma'am?"

"Nice of you to join us, Richard, it seems as if you are finally focused on something other than drooling on your desk." More laughing. Dick ground his teeth together in an effort to remain silent. "Sorry, ma'am," he answered. Ignoring his apology, Mrs. Hudson continued. "Well then, if you were paying a bit of attention, tell me what-" Before she could say any more, the bell rang loudly, indicating that it was time for lunch. Thank God.

Dick shoved his Calculus books in his backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and made his way to the door. He blew ebony hair out of his eyes. Bruce would make his get his hair cut soon. He dismissed the thought as he ambled his way towards his locker. He was stopped in his tracks, however, when a form blocked his way. _Great,_ Dick thought. _Someone's decided to come out and play. Just what I need. _Biting back a groan of frustration, he looked up. "Hey, _Dick_," a voice snarled. "Not in the mood, Zane. Maybe later." Dick was _so_ tired of this guy. Not only was he the school's head bully, but he also seemed to enjoy picking on Dick over all of his other victims. And besides, who names their kid _Zane_? So not asterous. "Awe, come on, Grayson, don't be like that. Want me to call mommy to come pick you up? Oh wait, you don't _have_ one." Zane and his minions snickered like it was the funniest joke in the world. Dick just dug his nails into his palms. No one knew how his parents had died. They just knew that they were dead. Obviously, or else Bruce wouldn't have had to adopt him. If they only knew... Not only what he'd been through, but also what he goes through every day... They had no idea.

So, instead of scissor-kicking Zane, Dick decided to ignore him. Bad idea. As soon as he made an effort to walk around him, Zane shoved him into the wall of lockers. Dick slammed into them, knocking his head so hard he swore it left a dent. "Who said you could leaves soon?" Zane sneered, making his ugly face even uglier. Dick swallowed a sarcastic remark. "Just leave me alone, Zane," he grumbled, a slight edge of warning creeping into his voice. Of course, Zane and his buddies were to stupid to notice it.

"No can do, pretty boy," Zane mocked. "I think we've just gotten started." Dick glanced around. Most of the kids had already unbacked their backpacks and gone to the cafeteria. The few that were still left were heading that way. Soon, it would just be Dick, Zane, and his four followers. And just like that, Dick knew what he had to do. He wouldn't stand being constantly bullied any longer. And he knew just how to end it.

Zane and his buddies spread out, forming a circle around the smaller boy. Zane had this awful grin on his face, like he lived to do this kind of thing. And the not-so-funny thing was, Dick believed it.

Before he could think about what was about to happen any longer, Zane charged, swinging his fist in a vicious uppercut, aimed at Dick's face. And that's when everything changed. There was no longer a frail, helpless, and scared fourteen your-old boy. Now there was only Robin, the lithe, graceful, and beautiful acrobat with the toned skills of the hero he was. Without missing a beat, Robin flipped backwards, avoiding Zane's fist. As he flipped, his instep connected with Zane's chin and propelled him up and away from the boy. Robin landed silently, watching as Minions 1, 2, 3, and 4 developed expressions ranging in fear, hatred, wariness, and confusion. Not like that stopped them, of course.

As Zane struggled back to his feet, Minion 1 attacked, going for a jab at Robin's gut. He let him approach. Then, before it made contact, Minion 1's fist was caught in Robin's unforgiving grip. Minion 1 only had a second to give the small boy an astonished look before Robin flipped him over his head and onto the floor, successfully knocking the wind out of him and leaving him breathless. Robin couldn't help the sly smile that worked its way on his face. Surely this counted as crime fighting? After debating it for a few seconds, he found that he didn't care. So when Minion 2 approached, he didn't give him time to make a move. Flipping over the startled boy, Robin grabbed his shoulders in midair. Using his momentum, Robin flung him at Minion 3, and they both went down. Minion 4 gave Robin one look, turned tail, and ran. _Coward,_ he thought. But it made his job easier. Now there was only one left.

Slowly and deliberately, Robin turned around. Zane, the fool that he was, had tried to tip-toe around the curve of the hall to the safety of the cafeteria. Of course, Robin had been listening to him the entire time and knew he wouldn't get that far. "Awe, come on, Treffer, don't be like that," Robin said, mimicking Zane's earlier statement. "I thought we'd just gotten started!" Zane looked at him, his face a mask of sheer horror. "Wha- who are you?" Robin smiled. "Your worst nightmare." And with that, he darted forward. Before Zane could even blink, much less try to defend himself, Robin had kneed him in the gut and he fell to the floor, coughing.

The boy took a deep breath, once more becoming the average schoolboy with the mesmerizing cyan blue eyes. After attempting to slick his hair back, Dick dusted off his hands and made his way to the cafeteria after dropping off his backpack. He smirked when he glanced at the clock. 12:10. That had been easier than he thought.


End file.
